"It's a Wonderful Life" is a lot better now that they restrict the number of showings. For years, it seemed that you could find it at any channel check during the holidays. Still one of my favorites. I am also fond of the classic, "Miracle on 34th Street."

I am partial to "The Santa Clause" and "The Grinch." I would have never imagined that cartoon could have been made into a movie. Jim Carrey was perfect in that film.

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

Thorton in one of his best roles. Just awesome how screwed up this movie was. I was disapointed he that even with him in it, he couldn't make the "Bad News Bear" role work, Because he seems like he would have fit that role of Coach Buttermaker like a glove.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

Just rewatched Elf for the first time since it came out ... I forget how funny that flick was. Had me laughing out loud through much of the first hour. Christmas Vacation is a classic as well on the comedy side of the ledger.

Liked The Grinch and the first Home Alone. But me, I prefer the animated Christmas shows. To me, one of my favorite parts of being a parent is being able to relive your youth and rewatch Rudolph, Frosty, and Charlie Brown Christmas.

"It's like dating a woman who hates you so much she will never break up with you, even if you burn down the house every single autumn." ~ Chuck Klosterman on Browns fans relationship with the Browns

Swerb wrote:But me, I prefer the animated Christmas shows. To me, one of my favorite parts of being a parent is being able to relive your youth and rewatch Rudolph, Frosty, and Charlie Brown Christmas.

+1000

I was thinking the exact thing as I started this thread. I love the old classic Christmas cartoons. My favorite moment is in Charlie Brown Christmas when Linus steps onto the stage to tell everyone the true meaning of Christmas. Touching piece of spiritual interlude.

Also, I will always remember my mom always telling us how mom and dad's first Christmas together was on a military base in Arizona and my dad picked out a real "Charlie Brown Christmas tree." My dad never lived that down!

Great memories.

Swerb, I also loved reliving my childhood with my son's toys at Christmas. Man, I got my son a ton of Hot Wheels cars and tracks, and we had track starting on the second floor and ending in the basement. And all of the various "building" toys that we loved. Not just happenstance that my son is now studying Mechanical Engineering, hoping to work in the auto industry!!

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

Galley Boys are slop on top of a so-so burger and a bun you coulde get from a Covneninet food mart generic pack. They the Antoine Joubert of burgers; soft, sloppy, oozing grease and cheap sauce and extremely overrated by a biased fan base. Proof that if you throw enough cheap sauce shit on a burger you still can't overcome the lame burger. -JB

Naxos wrote:Elf on the other hand, I do not understand the facination with it at all.

Do you like Ferrell? How many times have you watched it? If you like Ferrell and you have only watched it once, watch it again. Like alot of his movies they get better each time you watch them. I consider that to be the truth with Old School, Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Elf.

Naxos wrote:Elf on the other hand, I do not understand the facination with it at all.

Do you like Ferrell? How many times have you watched it? If you like Ferrell and you have only watched it once, watch it again. Like alot of his movies they get better each time you watch them. I consider that to be the truth with Old School, Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Elf.

I thought Anchorman got worse as I saw it more. Now, it's only funny if I watch it once a year or so. If that.

Definitely agree with Rich. Gotta be Rudolph, Frosty, and Charlie.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

The only way I will ever acknowledge it as so is when Blockbuster has it on it's holiday/Xmas shelf.

Agreed. Same with Lethal Weapon. The use of Christmas In Hollis/Jingle Bell Rock does not make these Christmas movies. Sure, they are set around Christmas time, but the movies themselves have nothing to do with Christmas.

Motherscratcher wrote:Agreed. Same with Lethal Weapon. The use of Christmas In Hollis/Jingle Bell Rock does not make these Christmas movies. Sure, they are set around Christmas time, but the movies themselves have nothing to do with Christmas.

How can you say that when the entire movie takes place in and around a hijacked office Christmas party?

Motherscratcher wrote:Agreed. Same with Lethal Weapon. The use of Christmas In Hollis/Jingle Bell Rock does not make these Christmas movies. Sure, they are set around Christmas time, but the movies themselves have nothing to do with Christmas.

How can you say that when the entire movie takes place in and around a hijacked office Christmas party?

Love the movie, but it has zip to do with Christmas, take Christmas out of Die Hard and the movie goes 100% unchanged. Hell the movie was even released in July.

Criminals in this town used to believe in things...honor, respect."I heard your dog is sick, so bought you this shovel"

Motherscratcher wrote:Agreed. Same with Lethal Weapon. The use of Christmas In Hollis/Jingle Bell Rock does not make these Christmas movies. Sure, they are set around Christmas time, but the movies themselves have nothing to do with Christmas.

How can you say that when the entire movie takes place in and around a hijacked office Christmas party?

Love the movie, but it has zip to do with Christmas, take Christmas out of Die Hard and the movie goes 100% unchanged. Hell the movie was even released in July.

Argyle listening to "Christmas in Hollis" in the limo= Christmas movie

Galley Boys are slop on top of a so-so burger and a bun you coulde get from a Covneninet food mart generic pack. They the Antoine Joubert of burgers; soft, sloppy, oozing grease and cheap sauce and extremely overrated by a biased fan base. Proof that if you throw enough cheap sauce shit on a burger you still can't overcome the lame burger. -JB

waborat wrote:Favorite scene is definitely when they show the old Higbee's store displays in XMas Story...Damn, does that bring back some magical memories of my childhood...

You guys are killing me. My grandma used to work at the O'Neils store in downtown Akron. When I was a kid we used to go down there to look at all the window displays. And then we would walk through the store and it was decked out in holiday decorations as well. Eventually we would find our way to the cosmetics department to see grandma.

No discussion of X-mas movies can be complete without talking about which version of "A Christmas Carol" is your favorite.

Mine, hands down, is the George C. Scott version. The Alastair Sims version has not aged well, the Patrick Stewart Version was crap from day one and the new Zombie-eyed Zemeckis version is something I'm not wasting any time on.

Scott didn't portray Scrooge as just a cranky old guy, he portrayed him as a ruthless prick who ENJOYED being a ruthless prick. Plus, Frank Findlay's Jacob Marley still scares the shit out of me. Great performances all around.

Motherscratcher wrote:Agreed. Same with Lethal Weapon. The use of Christmas In Hollis/Jingle Bell Rock does not make these Christmas movies. Sure, they are set around Christmas time, but the movies themselves have nothing to do with Christmas.

How can you say that when the entire movie takes place in and around a hijacked office Christmas party?

Love the movie, but it has zip to do with Christmas, take Christmas out of Die Hard and the movie goes 100% unchanged. Hell the movie was even released in July.

wrong. the only reason bruce willis even came out to california was to see his estranged wife holly (bonnie bedelia) for christmas. if it takes place at any other time, he's still in new york and you don't have a story. besides that, the only reason why the bad guys even try to rob the nakatomi plaza in the first place is because they knew that security would be lax because everybody else would be at the office christmas party and that the police would be short-staffed as a result too. they took their cue from the tet offensive that was also launched on christmas which took the americans completely by surprise and turned the vietnam war in favor of the communists, so yes christmas certainly is an important part in the movie. 'nuff said.

Motherscratcher wrote:Agreed. Same with Lethal Weapon. The use of Christmas In Hollis/Jingle Bell Rock does not make these Christmas movies. Sure, they are set around Christmas time, but the movies themselves have nothing to do with Christmas.

How can you say that when the entire movie takes place in and around a hijacked office Christmas party?

Love the movie, but it has zip to do with Christmas, take Christmas out of Die Hard and the movie goes 100% unchanged. Hell the movie was even released in July.

wrong. the only reason bruce willis even came out to california was to see his estranged wife holly (bonnie bedelia) for christmas. if it takes place at any other time, he's still in new york and you don't have a story. besides that, the only reason why the bad guys even try to rob the nakatomi plaza in the first place is because they knew that security would be lax because everybody else would be at the office christmas party and that the police would be short-staffed as a result too. they took their cue from the tet offensive that was also launched on christmas which took the americans completely by surprise and turned the vietnam war in favor of the communists, so yes christmas certainly is an important part in the movie. 'nuff said.

Really? Is it a different movie if he is visiting for his kid's birthday? or Easter? or Kwanzaa? or Earth Day?

Every reason you mention (visiting for Christmas, lax security, office Christmas party) is interchangeable with may other reasons that could have accomplished the same thing. They really aren't that important to the story at all.

Motherscratcher wrote:Really? Is it a different movie if he is visiting for his kid's birthday? or Easter? or Kwanzaa? or Earth Day?

Of course it is. Natakomi Corp. wouldn't have had a party for John and Holly McClane's kid, or Easter, or Kwanzaa (which I'm not sure was even invented in 1988) or Earth Day. The Christmas party was the entire rationale for him being out there (although the real reason was to woo Holly back into the fold.)

Argyle playing "Christmas in Hollis" in his limo... "Now I have a shotgun, Ho Ho Ho"... Officer Powell humming "Let it Snow"... Hans reminding Theo that "Christmas is the time of miracles" when the latter expresses doubt about breaking the last lock... it all adds up.

As for Die Hard's July release, well... Miracle on 34th Street was released in May, and would anyone argue that isn't a Christmas movie?

BTW, the best version of "A Christmas Story" is the George C. Scott version IMO. And since Mitch hasn't mentioned it yet, I'll go ahead and give a shout out to The Ref as an excellent holiday movie.

"At least the Scots didn't have to tune in with the rest of the country and watch their women get plowed by Longshanks and his men."~Commodore Perry on the difference between baseball's flawed economics : Indians :: prima nocta : Scots

wrong. the only reason bruce willis even came out to california was to see his estranged wife holly (bonnie bedelia) for christmas. if it takes place at any other time, he's still in new york and you don't have a story. besides that, the only reason why the bad guys even try to rob the nakatomi plaza in the first place is because they knew that security would be lax because everybody else would be at the office christmas party and that the police would be short-staffed as a result too. they took their cue from the tet offensive that was also launched on christmas which took the americans completely by surprise and turned the vietnam war in favor of the communists, so yes christmas certainly is an important part in the movie. 'nuff said.

That is absurd. If the story was written for McClain to be in LA for a completely different party the movie would have worked EXACTLY the same. Any reason for a company work party would have produced lax security. New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day...a big merger/takeover. IF, a BIG IF, the setting of the movie was in a city in a region where there would have been snow in the story then I could at least respect your angle but other wise pfft. Let's put it this way, when I saw somebody above say Die Hard it took me a few minutes to remember what holiday was actually involved in the movie...tells you just how vital Xmas was to the story line and overall effect of the film.

Criminals in this town used to believe in things...honor, respect."I heard your dog is sick, so bought you this shovel"

wrong. the only reason bruce willis even came out to california was to see his estranged wife holly (bonnie bedelia) for christmas. if it takes place at any other time, he's still in new york and you don't have a story. besides that, the only reason why the bad guys even try to rob the nakatomi plaza in the first place is because they knew that security would be lax because everybody else would be at the office christmas party and that the police would be short-staffed as a result too. they took their cue from the tet offensive that was also launched on christmas which took the americans completely by surprise and turned the vietnam war in favor of the communists, so yes christmas certainly is an important part in the movie. 'nuff said.

That is absurd. If the story was written for McClain to be in LA for a completely different party the movie would have worked EXACTLY the same. Any reason for a company work party would have produced lax security. New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day...a big merger/takeover. IF, a BIG IF, the setting of the movie was in a city in a region where there would have been snow in the story then I could at least respect your angle but other wise pfft. Let's put it this way, when I saw somebody above say Die Hard it took me a few minutes to remember what holiday was actually involved in the movie...tells you just how vital Xmas was to the story line and overall effect of the film.

This is the best board argument going since Rich nipped the Chris Henry thread in the bud.

Really, that's an indictment of all of us and I'm praying for a tasering of a newborn or for Pacman Jones to be hospitalized for injuries sustained in a strip club robbery that he was going to use to turn his life around to save the day.

We're arguing the lack of any snow in the film as well as referencing the Tet Offensive to categorize Die Hard as a Christmas movie or not.

Despite my deep reservations, I should probably leave the two youngest at home and go drink myself into some holiday alcohol poisoning. My death might be attributed to the holidays too since it's entirely possible there will be a wreath or a Christmas card or someone who bought or received a gift also drinking there.

wrong. the only reason bruce willis even came out to california was to see his estranged wife holly (bonnie bedelia) for christmas. if it takes place at any other time, he's still in new york and you don't have a story. besides that, the only reason why the bad guys even try to rob the nakatomi plaza in the first place is because they knew that security would be lax because everybody else would be at the office christmas party and that the police would be short-staffed as a result too. they took their cue from the tet offensive that was also launched on christmas which took the americans completely by surprise and turned the vietnam war in favor of the communists, so yes christmas certainly is an important part in the movie. 'nuff said.

That is absurd. If the story was written for McClain to be in LA for a completely different party the movie would have worked EXACTLY the same. Any reason for a company work party would have produced lax security. New Year's Eve, St. Patrick's Day...a big merger/takeover. IF, a BIG IF, the setting of the movie was in a city in a region where there would have been snow in the story then I could at least respect your angle but other wise pfft. Let's put it this way, when I saw somebody above say Die Hard it took me a few minutes to remember what holiday was actually involved in the movie...tells you just how vital Xmas was to the story line and overall effect of the film.

This is the best board argument going since Rich nipped the Chris Henry thread in the bud.

Really, that's an indictment of all of us and I'm praying for a tasering of a newborn or for Pacman Jones to be hospitalized for injuries sustained in a strip club robbery that he was going to use to turn his life around to save the day.

We're arguing the lack of any snow in the film as well as referencing the Tet Offensive to categorize Die Hard as a Christmas movie or not.

Despite my deep reservations, I should probably leave the two youngest at home and go drink myself into some holiday alcohol poisoning. My death might be attributed to the holidays too since it's entirely possible there will be a wreath or a Christmas card or someone who bought or received a gift also drinking there.

This is one of the funniest fucking things i've ever read. That last paragraph is solid gold. Holy shit.